On the road with
Helmut Haase
Pictures & Reports from afar
Helmut Haase takes you along on his travels. Accompany him across continents and discover other cultures with him.
Whether in Tehran, Goa, or Delhi: for Helmut, being on the road means learning and growing. He was a hippie, father, food scout, and entrepreneur, experiencing the world from many different perspectives — and dicovered that another life was always waiting out there. Here, he invites you to come along on his photographic journeys around the globe.
TRAVELOGUE
My Hippie Trail: From Kassel through Kabul to the Roof of the World. The trip to India was the great longing of my generation. In 1972, at the age of 22, I gathered all my courage, gave up my apartment, packed my backpack, and boarded the train—off on the legendary Hippie Trail toward the Himalayas.
TRAVELOGUE
Kumbh Mela — A Festival Like No Other. In January 2010, I traveled to Haridwar to witness the Kumbh Mela with my own eyes—the largest religious festival in the world. Millions of devotees gathered to bathe in the sacred Ganges. What awaited me there was far more than a spectacle: an overwhelming encounter with faith, rituals, and a spiritual force that moved me deeply.
TRAVELOGUE
Winter in Goa — From Escape to a Second Home. At first, the Hippie Trail drew me more toward the north of India, but starting in 1975, Goa became the winter refuge for my young family. There we escaped the gray cold winter of Germany and discovered a coastal paradise that became our second home.
TRAVELOGUE
Sadhus — Indias wandering Asketics. On my first journeys to India in the early 1970s, everything was unfamiliar to me: the traffic, the smells, the food, the language, the way people dressed and carried themselves—the entire explosion of impressions, colors, gestures, and sounds. And yet, it was precisely this that drew me in. Above all, I was captivated by the Sadhus — however foreign these holy men and their way of life seemed to me.
EXHIBITION
Glances (Blicke) — Photographs by Helmut Haase. On my travels, I came into close contact with those Sadhus who had left behind all worldly possessions to seek spiritual insight in meditation and renunciation. Their otherness—and at the same time their deep rootedness in a millennia-old tradition—fascinated me. I engaged with them, meeting the gazes they directed at me. From the images I was allowed to take of them, this exhibition has emerged.
Food Stories
FOODSTORY
Masala Chai – The secret national drink. In India, it is said that the aroma of freshly brewed Masala Chai can instantly evoke a feeling of home.
FOODSTORY
Begonia Cake — Street Food in Full Bloom. This cake, also called Haitanggao, is a delicately sweet Chinese pastry in a blossom-shape. In China it is seen as a symbol of spring and happiness.
FOODSTORY
Karachi, Pakistan — Let birds carry your worries away. On the Native Jetty Bridge in Karachi, locals gather every day to feed birds and fish — as a good deed..
FOODSTORY
Thai Coconut Pancakes — only authentic with the fold. They are fluffy and folded like tacos: Khanom Thang Taek is the name of this market snack. Ready for a sweet tradition?
Helmut Haase
Photography & Stories
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© Helmut Haase 1975 – 2025